Chapter 18
Christmas had come and passed, a time in which Archer and I made many funny memories.
Archer's parents had insisted that both Archer and Raven celebrate christmas eve with them at home, but Archer had denied, opting instead to celebrate with us. And what a beautiful evening it had been. The wonderful smell of christmas bakery had wafted through the air, the warm glow of many candles lighting up the beautifully decorated house.
Raven had been releases from the clinic for that evening and my brothers had taken an immediate liking to her, occupying themselves by telling her stories from their year.
Archer had sat with misty eyes beside me as he watched my family take him and his sister in as our own, and my heart swelled with love for him.
We had been sitting on the couch, snuggled together under a big fluffy blanket when it was his turn to unpack gifts. He had been dumbfounded when he saw the presents, his eyes flickering between my mother, my brothers and I before a heartbreaking smile spread across his lips.
He knelt down and unwrapped the hoodie my mother had bought him, admired the adorably drawn stack of picture my brothers had made him, and finally he opened the envelope encasing my gift to him.
I watched in anticipation as his eyes scanned the blue and white tickets, before his face lit up and he met my gaze with a full-blown smile.
"You're unbelievable! How did you manage this!" He exclaimed, clutching the mavericks' game tickets to his chest.
I grinned at him, "I'm glad you like them" I said, leaning down to his him.
"I don't like them Echo, I love them" I laughed at him, pulling him back up beside me.
His gift to me had been a matching necklace to the ring he had gotten me, a small leaf pendant hanging at the bottom of a thin silver chain. The tiny blue gems glimmered in the light as I gingerly stroked my thumb over the beautiful gift. When I turned it over there were tiny cursive letters carved into the spine of the small leave.
I held it closer to read the words and finally made out 'A thousand little promises'.
My gaze flickered back up to meet his and I found a small soft smile playing at the corner of his lips.
Archer had taken me back to the clearing a couple of days ago to do some star-gazing. The clear winter night had seemed to magnify the stars, bringing them close enough to almost touch.
He'd wrapped me in his arms, allowing me to rest my head on his chest, while soft music lulled from his phone.
We had talked about our future, what would happen after we'd finished school, where he would go to for college. During the course of the night we had made countless promises to each other, all of which we hoped to hold, with no guarantee that we would.
Just before we had left he had gently pulled me up into a sitting position and made me face him.
'I don't know if we'll always be together' he had said, tucking a tendril of hair behind my ear before cupping my face in his hands, 'but I hope that our thousand little promises will come true'
"Thank you Archer" I whispered, hugging him close to me. My mother sent us a warm loving smile, taking Archer's hand in hers and giving it a gentle squeeze.
*
"Look at what the cat dragged in" I called out laughing as I watched Teddy wrestle her way past the other students.
"I haven't seen you in forever!" she yelled, barreling towards us and crushing me in her bear hug.
"Two weeks is not forever" I laughed, hugging her back.
"Shut up. Yes it is. Especially if your if your whole family is there." She said, letting me go.
We were standing in front of the school building on the first day of our senior year. Students were slowly arriving, milling around the parking lot when Jimmy approached us with the biggest grin on his face.
"What got you in such a good mood?" Archer asked laughing.
Jimmy stepped aside and made way for a profusely blushing Natalie who had been right behind him.
"Say hello to my girlfriend everyone"
Teddy's mouth fell opened as she clutched my arm, "Did you just say girlfriend?!" she yelled before engulfing Natalie in a hug.
She sent me a warm smile over Teddy's shoulder and I grinned back, happy for her.
When all of the others had arrived, Archer pulled me to his side and kissed my forehead.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Oh yeah. Let's see what this year has got in store for us" I said grinning.
- The End -